VA doctors can now check state drug databases, and the VA must share its own data

The Department of Veterans Affairs will now share patient prescription data with state drug monitoring programs. This means VA doctors can also check state databases for a patient's full prescription history, making it harder to get multiple controlled substance prescriptions.

For years, the Department of Veterans Affairs operated its own prescription system, separate from state drug monitoring programs. This made it hard to track patients who might get controlled substances from both VA and private doctors. This rule closes that information gap, giving doctors a more complete picture of a patient's drug history.